His Coat
by Akatsuki Child
Summary: Alice forgot to give him his coat back before she left Wonderland. ‘Well,’ Hatter thought, ‘I guess I have another reason to go see her.’ Based on SyFy’s Alice. HatterAlice. Complete.


**Title: **His Coat  
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Genre: **Romance/Humor  
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Rating: **T  
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Pairing: **HatterAlice  
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Summary: **Alice forgot to give him his coat back before she left Wonderland. 'Well,' Hatter thought, 'I guess I have another reason to go see her.' Based on SyFy's Alice. HatterAlice.

**I absolutely loved this mini-series! HatterAlice forever! Woot! **

**Enjoy, and please review!**

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"Hell no!" He exclaimed. Alice blinked, slightly hurt by his rejection. When Hatter saw this, he quickly said. "I think you've had enough Wonderland for a lifetime."

She smiled softly and nodded. "Right." She took a deep breath. This was the part she was dreading most. "I guess this is goodbye…"

Hatter didn't say anything. He just stared into her eyes, taking in everything about her before she left for good. Her bright blue eyes. Her dark brown—almost black—hair. Her pink lips and pale skin. He would miss her so much. He would miss how endearing she was and how she never gave up. He would miss her wit and charm and her stubbornness. He would miss everything about her.

_It doesn't have to be this way…_the nagging voice in his head echoed, _she can stay._

_That's just being selfish,_ Hatter countered, _she has a family to go back to. _

So, instead of asking her to stay, he simply hugged her ("So good," he mumbled to himself) and smiled at her. "I hope things go well." He said genuinely.

She just nodded. She couldn't speak; the lump in her throat was too big, and she was afraid she would start crying. She didn't want to say goodbye to him. He had become her best friend. He had believed in her from the moment they first met in his tea shop. Before, she barely trusted him (to which she now felt slightly guilty; he was only keeping her best interests in mind) but now she trusted him completely. Sure, he was tricky, conniving, and slightly mad, but he was also sweet and humorous, and that's what made him Hatter, along with his chaotic hair and questionable attire. And, of course, his hat.

"This doesn't have to be goodbye." She mumbled. She would do what she could to see if they could see each other again. "You could…come to my world…"

Hatter blinked, surprised. She was inviting him to her world? "Yeah. Sure. We could get pizza or something."

Pizza. Really? That was the best he could come up with?

_Idiot! You tosh pot! _

"Er, yeah…pizza…" She repeated. She wouldn't deny that she was disappointed.

_I guess he doesn't really want to see me…_she thought, tears coming to her eyes. For some reason, it really bugged her that he didn't want to truly see her.

Hatter, however, was still mentally berating himself. This time, though, it was because he had seen her eyes get watery. Why, he didn't know, but he had this sinking feeling that it was because of him. He hated to see her cry, especially when he was the one who caused her sorrow.

Meanwhile, Jack Heart, the new king, was looking onto the scene happening between the two with jealousy, anger, and sorrow. He could see now why she turned down his offer. He could see the reason clearly.

Hatter. That damn, mad Hatter. He had won Alice's heart fair and square. He hadn't lied, hadn't deceived her. Well, he had, but he hadn't kept his intentions from her. Besides, Hatter's intentions were more admirable than Jack's were.

Jack did love her, though. That wasn't a lie. She was the only girl he truly cared for. But now she was Hatter's, even if she didn't know it yet.

_Tell her you don't want her to go! _That nagging voice (which was slowly becoming his most hated/favorite voice) in Hatter's head exclaimed. _Tell her you want her to stay with you!_

_But I _can't!

_And what happens if you don't?! What happens when you become all depressed because you can't see her?! What?!_

_But…what if she doesn't want to stay? What if she doesn't want me?_

_Hello? Did you or did you not just hear her invite you to her world?_

_Right…_ "Alice, listen. I—" He started but was then interrupted by a guy in a white lab coat.

"Excuse me, but it's time for you to go." He announced, grabbing her elbow. Alice nodded sadly and gave Hatter one last hug.

"Goodbye." She whispered. She allowed herself to be dragged in front of the Looking Glass. She looked Jack in the eye and nodded once with a smile. He simply smiled softly. He glanced back at Hatter to see him looking at Alice helplessly. But then, he sighed and turned around to leave.

"Just remember to breathe," He faintly heard, and when he turned his head towards the Looking Glass, she was gone.

Jack had done quite a few things in his life, some of which he wasn't proud of, but he hoped that he could create a good one—one that, hopefully, brought happiness to his true love and his enemy.

"Hatter!" He called to the haggard and sad mad who was about to walk out of the door.

Hatter stopped and slowly turned around to look at the solemn and determined king. Jack motioned for him to come over, and Hatter, with brows furrowed in confusion, slowly walked up to him.

"What?" He asked, his accent heavy from his anguish.

"I envy you." Jack stated bluntly, and Hatter raised a brow. "She chose you. You know that, right? Are you just going to let her go?"

Hatter stared at the king. He had been totally wrong about him. He had always thought Jack was this pompous, stuck up, rich, and powerful jerk—and maybe some of that was true—with no feelings whatsoever, but now he was starting to see that he indeed did have some redeeming qualities.

"Yeah, but she's gone now." Hatter said dejectedly.

"Here," Jack said, offering his old wallet and keys to Hatter. "Take this. You can have my apartment. There should be some money left in there. You'll have to get a job and a new name."

Hatter took the items. "Why are you helping me?" He asked slowly.

Jack sighed. "Alice deserves you, and I don't want her being sad. Just promise me you'll keep her happy." He demanded. His face looked tired and he appeared to be older than he actually was.

Hatter nodded. "Of course."

"Then I wish you the best of luck. Oh—" He took the hat from Hatter. "You won't need this."

However, Hatter would have none of that. He snatched it back. "I can't be Hatter without a hat." He smirked, putting it on his head. Before Jack could say anything, he stepped in front of the Looking Glass, took a deep breath, and stepped through.

----

When Alice woke up, she was in the hospital with IVs hooked up to her.

"Oh, you're okay!" She heard a voice exclaimed. Her mother was suddenly at her side, giving her a hug.

"What happened?" Alice squeaked out.

"When you went to find Jack you must have hurt yourself because you were unconscious. You were gone for about an hour, but then a construction worker found you. He was very kind…"

She stared at her mom. An hour? Was Wonderland a dream? Was—she gulped—_Hatter_ just a dream?

No. It had happened. There was no way she had dreamt all of that. She wasn't _that_ creative.

It had to have been real. But then that means…Hatter was back in Wonderland. But he didn't want to see her, so it didn't matter.

But it did.

She sniffled. Why was this man impacting her so much? Yeah, she liked him, but she didn't have a very good history with liking men. Somehow Hatter had managed to wiggle his way into her life and he found a place in her heart.

Oh, _God_ she missed him already. Their adventures, his erratic behavior, his quirky persona…

As tears ran down her face, she realized that there was one thing that separated Hatter from the men she used to like:

She loved Hatter.

And with this new awareness, she started to cry even more.

But it wasn't just Hatter she would miss. She would miss Charlie and Jack…and her father. She had just found him, and then he had taken a bullet for her. He was gone, forever.

"Honey what's wrong?" Her mom asked.

"Dad," She cried. "He's gone. He's not coming back. He's gone…"

"Oh, honey." Her mother said and hugged her. Alice cried into her mom's chest. Right now, she just wanted to see Hatter.

----

When she got home, she stared at the apartment like she was there for the first time. After being in Wonderland for so long—or an hour, as her mother said—this place seemed so foreign.

She went to her bedroom and set her bag and coat on the bed. She glanced at the poster above her computer with pinpoints of locations where she had already checked for her father. She sighed sadly and started taking out the pins.

About twenty minutes later, her mom came into her room just as Alice was starting to roll up the poster.

Her mom raised a brow. "What's this?"

Alice smiled sadly, yet peacefully. "There's no need to search anymore." Alice finished rolling it up and stored it under her bed. She then went to her bag and started putting away her stuff. The first thing she pulled out, though, was a dark purple jacket. She stared at it. It was Hatter's. She had forgotten to take it off before she went through the Looking Glass.

"Oh, I was meaning to ask you about that—" Her mom said but then there was a knock on their door.

"It's probably that construction worker who found you."

"You invited him over?!" Alice asked incredulously.

"Well I would have, but before he left he asked if he could check up on you, make sure you were okay."

Alice sighed as her mom went to get the door. She smiled at the coat and put it down on her bed.

"Alice! Come meet David!"

----

Hatter was a tad bit uncomfortable. First off, he was nervous as hell. Would she recognize him? Would she be happy to see him? Did she like him the way that he liked her?

Second, he felt like an idiot in these clothes, but this was what they were wearing, and he had to blend in.

Third, his hair was bugging him. He didn't remember ever once combing his hair, and now it was sorted out, not in its usual disarray.

But at least he had his hat.

_Some reassurance…_he thought sarcastically.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A smiling woman—probably Alice's mother, if his assumptions were correct—opened the door.

"Hello," Hatter said. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course I do!" The woman replied. "How could I forget?"

He smiled. "So is she here?" He was careful not to say "is Alice here?" Wouldn't that be creepy? A construction guy that neither you nor your daughter knows calls your daughter by her name?

Creepy, indeed.

"Oh, yes! Come in, come in!" She exclaimed. "Oh, I never caught your name…?"

"Uh…" Crap! He had forgotten to think of a name! "I'm…David."

"Well, David, I'm Carol. It's nice to meet you." She then called for Alice to come meet him.

_Damn I'm good._

He just barely heard the sigh that escaped her before he saw her. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her. She was beautiful, even if she wasn't wearing that pretty blue dress of hers.

Alice looked up to see Hatter. She grinned and exclaimed, "Hatter!" She ran up to him and crushed him with a hug.

Hatter sighed blissfully. "Finally," He whispered, returning her hug. He held her tight to his chest, intending to never let go. He wasn't going to lose her again.

She smiled and looked up at him. He was still the same old Hatter with his thoughtful brown eyes and slight stubble…

Except for that damn hair. She ran a hand through it, messing it up.

He smiled, realizing what she did.

"I like it better this way," She smiled.

"Me too." He replied.

"What are you doing here Hatter? Not that I mind," She grinned.

"Well, you took my coat." He simply said, his arms still around her waist.

She was confused at first, but then she flushed. Suddenly, she smirked. "I guess my plan worked."

Puzzled, Hatter asked, "Plan?"

"Yup. My plan was to steal your coat so you had no choice but to come see me."

He laughed and shook his head. "You have no idea how much I've missed you…"

Wasting no more time, he leaned down and kissed her. She returned it and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Meanwhile, Alice's mother just stood in the back ground, not following anything they had said.

After everything they had gone through and after everything was said and done, not once had Hatter asked for his coat back. It always gave him an excuse to come back whenever he went to Wonderland. An excuse to come back and see Alice. His Alice.

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**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Review, please!**

**--Akatsuki Child**


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